


Bewilderment

by orphan_account



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: High School AU, M/M, Trans Pidge, ftm pidge, idk ill add more tags as it goes on lol, keith got daddy issues, klance, theyre all neighbors
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-10
Updated: 2017-05-10
Packaged: 2018-10-30 10:07:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10874550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: LOL I'll figure out a better title later. There's going to be more chapters later, don't worry, with Klance. I don't know if there's going to be smut yet or not. I don't really know where this is going, but here.So far, it's just Keith has to deal with the fact that his father started a new family, etc. etc.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The second sentence actually happened to me on my old bus :')

In school, Keith was always "the new kid", no matter how long he had been there. In the seventh grade, he rode the same bus for an entire year, and got asked three separate times if he was new. He was constantly moved from his father's shitty apartment somewhere in the middle of nowhere, to his aunt's house in West Virginia. He wasn't sure which was worse: Being ignored at his dad's house, or being the center of attention at his aunt's. Both were unpleasant. This school year, Keith was staying with his dad. He wasn't sure why his dad insisted that he constantly come over, as they rarely ever interacted. Keith's dad was in the military, and he was constantly deployed. However, he planned to stay home with Keith for no more than a week, if not less, until he was shipped back off to Kuwait.

Keith skipped the last step of the bus he had taken from West Virginia to South Carolina, landing hard on his feet. His dad's current house was only a block away from the bus stop, but with the insane summer heat, he knew it would be a long walk. His headphones were still playing music, and Keith listened as the song changed from "Stay" to "Goodnight Moon". Keith's music taste was exactly like him, in a way. Edgy 2000's emo music. Keith pulled the folded paper out of his pocket, looking carefully at the address his Aunt had left. "312 Edsel Drive". Keith carefully scanned the numbers on the mailboxes, searching for house number 312.

This neighbor was nice, too nice for his dad to be staying at. It was strange to think of his dad living in the suburbs. He usually lived in the tiny apartments on the bad side of town. Keith wiped away the beads of sweat building up on his forehead with the back of his hand. He was already starting to hate South Carolina. 

Keith almost walked right by his dad's house. He checked the number on the mailbox, then the paper in his hand, then the number on the mailbox again. There had to be some sort of mistake; there was no way this was his father's house. Children's toys covered the front yard. Parked in the driveway was a gold mini van. This was definitely not his father's house.

But then the door swung open, and Keith's dad burst out. "Keith!" he shouted, then bolted across the yard to greet his son.

"H-hi, dad..." Keith said. He let his father envelope him in a bear bug, stiffening awkwardly. He didn't like hugs.

"It's been a while. You've gotten so tall." 

Keith knew that was a lie; he was barely an inch taller than he had been that last time he saw his dad, four years ago. But he smiled anyway. He opened his mouth to say something, but a child's voice made him stop.

"Daddy? Who's this?" 

Keith blinked, looking for the source of the voice. Standing in the doorway was a small boy, no older than three, with a mess of dark hair and honey-colored skin. A girl, who looked like his twin, clung to the back of his shirt. Keith looked back at his father, his confusion clearly displayed on his face.

"This is Keith," his dad told the kids. He didn't introduce the children to Keith, instead grabbing Keith by the elbow and leading him inside the house. "Jessica?! Keith's here!" he shouted into the house. It was cold inside, which would have been really refreshing, if Keith wasn't so bewildered. The kids that had called Keith's dad "daddy" retreated down one of the hallways. The floors were dark hard floor, and the walls were a beige color. It was... clean. Something none of Keith's father's houses had ever been.

A woman appeared at the end of the hallway, the children clinging to both of her legs. In her arms she held a bundle of blankets. It took Keith a moment to realize it was a baby. "Keith? Hi!" Her voice was warm. She was short, though only a few inches shorter than Keith's dad, with brown hair and tan skin. 

Keith looked at his dad again, even more confused.

"Keith this is my wife, Jessica. That's June and Joop. Guys, say hi." The children behind their mother's legs waved feebly. "The baby's name is Freya."

"You... you started a family?" Keith asked. He knew it was a dumb thing to say the moment it came out of his mouth.

Keith's dad nodded. "I would have written about it to you in a letter, but... I didn't know how to say it. It's one of those things you can only say in person."

Keith's father had never been a family man. Ever. Keith had been an accident, with a random woman he met when he was barely twenty. The idea of Keith's dad being a father by choice was... strange.

Keith swallowed hard. "Oh, well... g-good for you..." It felt awkward and forced. What was he supposed to say?

Jessica smiled at Keith. Your room's on the second floor. Jon, you mind showing him?"

Keith's father smiled back. He walked over and pecked Jessica on the lips. "Sure." 

Keith's mind was somewhere else. His body mechanically followed his father down the hall and up the stairs.

"So? You're not an only child anymore," his dad said. 

"You're married now?"

"Yep." He showed off the black ring around his finger proudly.

They reached the top of the stairs. There was another hallway. It had four doors. Jon lead him into the room on the immediate right. It was small, but it was nice. There wasn't a closet, but there was a bed, a desk, and a dresser. It was more than he had ever had at his dad's house. Keith let his backpack fall from his shoulders and onto the floor. 

"I already enrolled you in the local high school. It starts next Monday."

Keith nodded in response.

"Well, I'll leave you to it, then. I'll come get you for dinner." And then his father left.

Keith shut the door behind him, and sat down on the bed. It creaked loudly beneath him. The beige walls were bare, except for the occasional chip in the paint, or marking from where a nail had once resided. He was too shocked to even think about school. His father had just went and started a family. He hadn't been invited to the wedding. He hadn't been told any of this. And then he's just thrown in, and expected to be okay with it. He couldn't tell if he was or not.

Deciding to ignore his thoughts for now, Keith started to unpack. There wasn't a lot of work involved. Keith learned not to get sentimental. He couldn't carry around every little thing that had some significance to him; if he left anything at his dad's house, it would get lost, and if he left anything at his aunt's house, it would get broken by her kids. Keith tried his best to organize his clothes as he put them into the dresser, but soon, everything was a jumble of clothes. He pulled  _Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe_ and  _Number the Stars_ , the only two books he bothered holding onto, out of his backpack. He remembered how he got both. The first had been given to him by his aunt when he had come out to her almost five years ago. He remembered how he was on the verge of tears when he told her, afraid. He wasn't sure what he was afraid of; there was no way his aunt would disown him, or love him any less, but he was still afraid. She had been fine with it. The second book had been given to him by his sixth grade ELA teacher, Mr. Jackson. There was a note on the inside of the first page from him. Mr. Jackson had been, by far, Keith's favorite teacher. He had completely opened up Keith's mind to the world. Keith's iPod shuffle was still in his pocket, and he carefully placed it on the desk beside the books. Keith didn't know which door was the one to the bathroom, so he just put his toothbrush on top of the dresser. He dumped his backpack upside down to get everything else out. A pile of various small objects poured out; a packet of watermelon gum, a key ring that held a key from every house he had ever lived in, a few pens, a watch that he never wore, a tiny flip phone that his aunt paid for, a few rubber bands, and a bunch of other things that Keith threw onto his desk.

Keith jumped when someone knocked on his door. It opened slowly, and a tiny face, belonging to Joop, peered into the room. "Daddy says it's time for dinner." And then the boy slammed the door shut and scampered away. Keith sighed, mentally preparing himself for more social interaction, then descended back down the stairs.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith gotta get over his daddy issues quick.  
> Also this is kind of sort of very out of character, whoops.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> after a lot of thinking about pidge's gender i came up with a not so popular headcanon  
> most people (including the creators i think) consider pidge as a girl and then theres tumblr who use they/them and say pidge is non binary and i was about to do that  
> but then i said fuck it and made pidge trans ftm  
> im sorry if this bothers you  
> its just my own headcanon thingy  
> you dont have to agree with it to enjoy the fic  
> thank

The week before school started passed by a lot faster than Keith would have liked. There were lots of new things that Keith had to get used to.

For example, his father dropping hints that Keith should move in permanently every five seconds.

"It'd be nice if you could stay forever," he'd say.

"Does your aunt let you do this?"

"Y'know, you could finish high school here, if you wanted."

Also, Jessica introduced something Keith had only heard of in books and movies. A "chore chart". Before, Keith just cleaned after himself when he was with his dad. Now, there was a whole, complex chart that told him what to do on what day. 

Everything in the town was within walking distance, though. The school, the library, everything. 

Joop easily befriended Keith and forced him to play with him, while June clung to her mother anytime Keith was around. Keith also learned that their real names were Jupiter and Juniper.

For some reason, they all woke up insanely early. Inhumanely early. And, of course, Keith was expected to wake up at seven, even though there wasn't any school, because he was "wasting daylight". Not that he needed it, though.

Keith texted his aunt every night to tell her how things were. It seemed she hadn't been informed about Jon's new family, either.

Keith was surprised when he found out his dad had befriended the neighbors.

He quickly got over the shock when he was dragged outside for a barbecue. That was one of those "white suburban dad" things. His dad invited the whole block over. It was the middle of August, and hotter than hell outside, but that didn't stop half the neighborhood from showing up anyway. It was mostly just middle-aged men, their wives, and their tiny children. 

There were only two teenagers that Keith could see. There was a girl, who stood tall and proud, in a way. She had dark skin, and pale silver-colored hair. Chasing after her was a boy, tall, awkward, and lanky-looking. His skin was almost as dark as hers. 

Keith found himself being drawn to them by something. It was as if all teens contained a special magnetic force that always forced them together, even in the middle of their dad's weird house parties.

Up close, the girl was strikingly beautiful. If Keith had been straight, he would have considered dating her. 

The boy, however, seemed just as lanky and awkward up close as he had been from a distance. He stared at Keith was his deep, captivating blue eyes.

Keith shuddered involuntarily.

"Hi. I don't think I've seen you before." the girl asked. She had a thick accent. British, maybe?

Keith felt both of the stranger's eyes on him. "No, I'm sort of new here."

Allura extended her hand. "I'm Allura." Keith took her hand and shook it awkwardly. He wasn't used to handshakes; his aunt's side of the family were all huggers, and his dad never really touched him.

"Keith," Keith said in reply.

The tall boy beside her stepped forward, offering his hand. "The name's Lance." 

Keith already knew he and this boy weren't going to get along. 

"Where are you from, Keith?" Lance asked, narrowing his eyes. He seemed jealous by the attention Allura was giving to Keith.

"Lots of places."

Lance snorted. Allura tried changing the subject.

"Are you going to school here?"

Keith nodded.

"What year are you in?"

"I'm a Junior."

"Looks like I'm a year ahead of you. That's Lance's year, though." 

Lance grinned goofily at Keith, revealing a slight gap. "But I'm cooler than Mullet."

Keith rolled his eyes, but in a friendly way. As friendly as rolling your eyes could get. 

"Sure, Lance," Allura mumbled. "Don't you still sleep with a nightlight?"

Lance blushed a dark color. "It's dark in there!"

Keith snickered and Allura grinned. "Whatever, Lance," Allura muttered under her breath.

A tall, awkward-looking adult approached the trio. His hair (and mustache) were an odd orange-y red color. "Hello, Allura. Lance. Strange boy I don't recall."

"Hi, Coran!" Allura smiled brightly. "Keith, this is a family friend, Coran. He looks old, but he can be cool."

"Keith, I remember the name! You're Jon's son?" 

The atmosphere changed, suddenly. Not exactly negatively, but not positively, either. Both Lance and Allura looked at Coran, then Keith, clearly confused.

Keith shifted awkwardly, nodding in response. He discomfort was obvious.

Allura cocked her head to the side. "Jon has another son?"

"It's complicated," Keith mumbled. 

Coran seemed to pick up on the awkwardness of the conversation. "Well, I'd better get going now! See you lot later!" And then he ducked back into the crowd.

"You don't look like Jessica at all," Lance said.

"Jessica's... not my mom." 

Lance and Allura both fell silent. Keith stared at the ground. "I'm gonna... go, I guess," he murmured  and started backing away.

"See you at school," Allura muttered back.

As soon as Keith could tell he was out of the pair's field of vision, he dashed through the crowd and was planning to disappear into the house, when he bumped into something. Or, more accurately, some _one_. Keith looked down to see a boy, so short, he barely came up to Keith's shoulders. He had short, light-brown hair that made it look like he had just stumbled out of bed. He stared down at the phone in his hands, playing some sort of complex game.

"S-sorry," Keith said. The boy only shrugged in response, not bothering to lose their concentration.

A boy that looked just like the kid, only taller, suddenly emerged from the crowd. "Sorry! You'll have to excuse my si- I mean, brother!"

"It's fine," Keith barely got the words out before he tried ducking back into the crowd.

"My name's Matt, by the way," the taller boy said, grabbing Keith's wrist. "This is Pidge."

"Hi," Pidge said in a bland voice without even looking up.

"I'm... Keith." 

"Keith. I don't think I've seen you around much."

"No, you haven't," Keith replied sharply. He snatched his wrist out of Matt's grip, and headed back towards his house.

Jessica was inside, sitting in the living room with a bunch of other white neighborhood moms. She said something to Keith, but he didn't hear her, as he marched up the stairs, and disappeared into his bedroom.

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos, comments, suggestions, etc. are appreciated! :)


End file.
